BUTTERMILK DAYS 2017

From Backyard Barbecue to Big Time Festival

THE BUTTERMILK STORY

Who would have thought that 22 years ago on a warm August afternoon when a few fellows that used to live in the old “Buttermilk” neighborhood got together for a little backyard cookout that one day it would turn into Bardstown’s best version of a real homecoming. Well that’s just what has happened. Billy, Joey, and Mark Sheckles, Kenny Linton, “Gator” Tonge, Mike Lydian, Kevin and Wayne Rogers, and Joe Dodson had so much fun that afternoon that they made a promise to take time out of their busy schedules to do this at least once a year, and they did. The rest has become Buttermilk history.

The next couple of years, “The Buttermilk Gang”, as they were called, put together a cookout every August and they started to invite people from all over town that used to live in the Buttermilk area or had “roots” in Buttermilk. After the 4th year the cookout had grown to about 400 people and a lot of the women were bringing their special side dishes to go along with the meat that the men cooked. They also had shirts made up and sold them to raise money to offset some of the cost of preparing the food. The Buttermilk shirts were a big hit. They also had a wiener roast and camp out for the kids on Friday night.

When the 5th year of Buttermilk rolled around something happened that changed the whole course of Buttermilk. One of Kevin Rogers good friends, Chris Hurst, had a bad year selling hogs. He said they weren’t worth taking to market. He told Kevin he would give the “Buttermilk Gang” 6 hogs if they wanted to have them processed and they would have all the meat they needed. With all this pork on their hands, they had to figure a way to get rid of ot. They had sausage, bacon, ham, pork chops, ribs, pork burgers, neck bones, pig feet and more, so they decided it would be good idea to have a big breakfast as well as a big afternoon cookout. Because they had so much meat, they decided to invite everyone that wanted to come. Bring a lawn chair, your favorite beverage, and come on down--all the food was free! Some of the local DJs, Bobby Kimberlandd, Ronnie G, and Raymond G, agreed to play music all during the day. Since the Gang was going to be up most of Friday night for food prepartation, they decided to have a street dance for the little kids to go along with the wiener roast and camp out.

The first year of the Buttermilk breakfast was an election year and all the local candidates as well as State Representative Jodie Hayden, State Senator Dan Kelly, then District Judge Tom Dawson, and soon to be District Judge Bob Heaton and many others made this a good place for fellowship. People could not believe all this good food was free and many gave donations. The “Buttermilk Gang” made requests from several local businesses for donations and many responded favorably. The first breakfast served about 250 people and has grown larger every year, with the 2015 breakfast serving about 800 people.

The word was now out about how good the food was and how great the fellowship was at Buttermilk. The local media started doing feature stories of “Buttermilk” and how this was Bardstown’s best version of a real homecoming. One feature writer for THE KENTUCKY STANDARD even won a KPA first place award for her coverage of “BUTTERMILK DAY IN BARDSTOWN”. Local families were now putting together their family reunions around the 4th weekend in August. People were coming down on Friday night setting up tents and staking out space on the “Buttermilk Lot”. Children were having a hard time concentrating in school in anticipation of the Buttermilk weekend. And the people kept coming. Thanks to our leaders at City Hall, they were allowed to block south 3rd street off on Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon to allow the Festival to have more room, as the crowd overflowed into the street. In 2016, crowd estimates were around 3000 people and this year estimates are that there will be more.

Many activities and good causes have sprung up because of “Buttermilk”. The year 2003, marked the 3rd year of the MISS BUTTERMILK PAGEANT, which was held the Sunday before the Buttermilk weekend. Two years in a row the good sisters of the Eastern Star made the coordination and serving of all the side dishes their community project and have received numerous awards for their participation at “Buttermilk”. The “ON THE EDGE BAND” made their debut at “Buttermilk” and did well locally. Because of so much bragging about who made the best homemade wine in the area, the Annual Homemade Wine Tasting and Wild meat Cookout was added to the Buttermilk lineup on Thursday night from 6:30 till 9:00 to see who get the Peoples Choice Award as who makes the best homemade wine that year. Families are now coming together more and more each year to get a chance to stay in touch with families and friends and also see a lot of additions to their extended families. And then there are people like the late Horace Belmear of Morgantown, WV., who found some of his lost family at “Buttermilk”. Mr. Belmear, 80 years old at the time, a successful educator for many years at the University of West Virginia was in Bardstown several years ago doing a genealogy trace on some of his relatives. He and his mother had left Bardstown when he was 6 years old and moved to Louisville and it was rumored that some of his relatives were white. At the local library, he was asking about some people that used to live in the old Buttermilk area. To his surprise, he was told that they were having a Buttermilk Festival on south 3rd street that same day and maybe he should go there. When he got there he was surprised again to find that they were having a Bard Family reunion-- and his mother was a Bard. He was a happy man. He met more cousins than he thought one man should have and filled in a lot of blank spots in his life. He and his wife were faithful attendees until her passing in 2006 and his passing in 2010. There are many more stories that unfold like this at “Buttermilk”

In 2010, because of the huge throngs of people from out of town that come to Bardstown for the Buttermilk Days Festival, the “Buttermilk Gang”, decided to make some changes to their annual lineup. The Homemade Wine-tasting Event will still kick off the festivities on Thursday evening from 6:30 until 9:00pm along with the "Buttermilk Buffet" that goes along with it. It will again be sponsored by the Kentucky Standard and PLG-TV. The Kids Stree Dance on Friday night will be coupled wth the BUTTERMILK'S GOT TALENT CONTEST for local up and coming talent . The Famous Buttermilk Breakfast will still be Saturday morning from 7 till 10am, this year sponsored by Toyota Boshuru. The BIG FEED on Saturday afternoon was replaced with food vendors lining the streets on Friday night and from noon until closing Saturday. This year will mark our 8th Annual FREE STREET CONCERT starting on Saturday afternoon. This year will mark the 23rd Anniversary of the Buttermilk Festival and as such we are bringing back some of the previous entertainers such as , The PERFECT FIT BAND from Campbellsville, along with an Old School Day Party with DJ's Ronnie G, Raymond G, and Frankie Boy from 3 till 6 and this year's big hit will be the internationally renowned show band "THE DEELE" and hosted by Songbird Sheryl Rouse and her melodious sounds. Also, a Bardstown home grown talent, Miss Erin Downs, will debut this year at "Buttermilk". This year the event will be all evening long. This years Street Concert will be sponsored by LG&E and KU along with one of Bardstown's newest businesses, The Bardstown Bourbon Comapny. Also on Saturday, the return of the MISS BUTTEMILK PAGEANT for young girls ranging in age from 3yrs to teen to misses, sponsored by the Kentucky Festival Pageant System will be held at the local COBEC Building on East Muir Ave.

The true meaning of the Buttermilk Weekend is the coming together of friends and family. Old and young, male and female, black and white, all these people have direct ties to making Bardstown what it is today. Our heritages are inexplicably tied together and bringing us all together in harmony is what has made “Buttermilk” a tremendous success. YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE IT TO UNDERSTAND IT. Good food, good drink, good music and good fellowship every 4th weekend in August, just what Billy, Joey, Mark, Gator, Kenny, Wayne, Kevin, Mike and Joe wanted it to be.

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